La Belle Epoque - Tamquam Alter Idem

Licentia Liquendi

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{Zadie Smith:White Teeth}{Norton Juster:The Phantom Tollbooth}

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Thursday, June 29, 2006

OBS

Just back from OBS. It was definitely more fun than what I was expecting and I enjoyed the unadulterated exercise greatly. As a repressed Singaporean child, I really had fun on the height challenges and inverse tower esp, swear that all that climbing was Therapeutic, esp rock walls, where you have to think of where to put your feet.I just climbed and climbed till my muscles gave out; I wasn't tired, I just physically stopped being able to pull myself up the next log. It was a totally cool feeling. Kayaking was also great. I didn't get as burnt as I thought I would because I draped an extra shirt over my cap so I looked vaguely militant and also a shirt over my hands so they wouldn't get burnt while rowing.

ABS was the coolest kayaking partner Ever. I borrowed his super comfortable (black but yet not hot in the sun!and breeze pervades it etc)air rifle long sleeve shirt and his spf130 (can you believe it?!?!1 freaking 30 "perfect liquid finish" sunblock to substitute my pathetic spf30. He did most of the rowing and kept telling me to take 5 haha. Even though we did overtake the navigator (nice guy and I learnt a new word "horllanded" (?) must find out spelling, it means lost) I doubt any of that was due to my superior paddling skills.

We hit the ocean then mangrove swamps and 2 pottages. Will update more next time...Am contused and tired

belle epoque at 8:44 AM

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Holiday!

Haha I shamelessly indulged in a slideshow of my favourite violinst. You can see it below, it is truly disgraceful.
On a happier note, I'm off to Hongkong for a couple days will be back, Wednesday, afternoon-ish. Plan to shop myself sick and eat as much dim-sum as I can get. Take care everyone :)
See you!
(am not bringing phone so smses will be received late...If you plan to make any major decisions which involve me, please wait till after the 21st)

belle epoque at 11:09 AM

Skirt I bought yesterday, its around knee length, or slightly longer. turquoiseish-with gold trimming. Thought it was pretty and I'm on compulsive shopper retail therapy mode now. It's very pretty in real life.

belle epoque at 7:20 AM

Try this out! Fun, I think I got 9 or 10

belle epoque at 2:34 AM

Friday, June 16, 2006

Piu Forte

Welcome to Più FORTE!, Visitor Number 19891 !
Ladies and Gentlemen, my lucky (symmetrical) number of the day!

belle epoque at 10:41 PM

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Got this off a hilarious website - Go Fug Yourself, where apparently this was spotted at a Fashion Show:

"Unidentified Fugging Object
The following rather spectral vision of fug allegedly comes from a Cortana runway show in Barcelona, although conspiracy theorists may speculate that it's a government photo taken at a UFO crash site somewhere in the Las Vegas desert: "

belle epoque at 12:15 PM

Creep

Today's Video: One of my favourite songs - Creep by Radiohead

I posted the lyrics before, but that was before D taught me how to embed videos. haha
When you were here before,
Couldn't look you in the eye

How I have grown and how I will miss you,
my Antipodean love
Our carefully stolen happily-ever-afters,
they languish in the corners of our movement
It is too late
I have already suffocated,
waiting at the place where your breath ends.

belle epoque at 1:22 AM

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

The Mozart Effect- From JChan's Blog

I explored J's blog today (hope job's going well kor) and found this:
(I come closest to Ives and Liszt I think?)

You've heard of the Mozart Effect, BUT, have you heard of the ...
LISZT EFFECT: Child speaks rapidly and extravagantly, but never really says anything important.
BRUCKNER EFFECT: Child speaks very slowly and repeats himself frequently.Gains reputation for profundity.
WAGNER EFFECT: Child becomes a megalomaniac. May eventually marry his sister.
MAHLER EFFECT: Child continually screams - at great length and volume - that he's dying.
SCHOENBERG EFFECT: Child never repeats a word until he's used all the other words in his vocabulary. Sometimes talks backwards. Eventually, people stop listening to him. Child blames them for their inability to understand him.
BABBITT EFFECT: Child gibbers nonsense all the time. Eventually, people stop listening to him. Child doesn't care because all his playmates think he's cool.
IVES EFFECT: the child develops a remarkable ability to carry on several separate conversations at once.
GLASS EFFECT: the child tends to repeat himself over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
STRAVINSKY EFFECT: the child is prone to savage, guttural and profane outbursts that often lead to fighting and pandemonium in the preschool.
BRAHMS EFFECT: the child is able to speak beautifully as long as his sentences contain a multiple of three words (3, 6, 9, 12, etc). However, his sentences containing 4 or 8 words are strangely uninspired.

And then of course, the Cage effect-- Child says nothing for 4 minutes, 33 Seconds. Preferred by 9 out of 10 of classroom teachers.

belle epoque at 10:27 PM

Today

I am in an admirable state of health. I have puked only twice in my life. I have never blown my nose and had something satisfyingly opaque come out. My blood cells seem mostly regular and have not revealed my true political affiliation with their physical structure. My lungs are pleasantly symmetrical and have no disfiguring spots on them.

And as some of you know by now, I survived a bout of smallpox in 1991.
(I'm a living miracle!)

I have been insulted too many times these last two days. Sick of my video. Here's a lovely new one. I'm only Happy when it Rains - Garbage

I refuse to be my own failure. There are just too many people disappointing me now.

belle epoque at 12:00 PM

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Clari

"Joy" as an emotional noun and not a person, though of course there is such a person also except I'm not referring to her here. And I meant
"from white to black" I don't know why I said purple. Maybe some Freudian thing

I'm only happy when it rains
I'm only happy when it's complicated
And though I know you can't appreciate it
I'm only happy when it rains
You want to hear about my new obsession
I'm riding high up on a deep depression

belle epoque at 10:52 PM

Complete

Joy! I have finally finished changing all my past entries from white to purple. Now my past posts are available for reading at your own leisure. :) Enjoy

belle epoque at 10:50 PM

Runaway 2

Today's Video: Runaway by The Corrs
I've been in a Corrs mood lately. They are just so pleasant.

Say it's true,
there's nothing like me and you,
I'm not alone,
tell me you feel it too,
And I would runaway, I would runaway,
Cause I have fallen in love,
I'm never gonna stop falling in love

Ladies and Gentlemen. What has it all been in the end? Is all this dying making me a better person? I was just asking my friend if destruction is required to establish something as a form of history. Because a past, that has not been destroyed, would it still be considered as the present? And maybe in dying everyday, we would slowly be processed into something historical. I guess this is uncharacteristically cliche for me, but what I can say is that at least the music I love and play, is something that will never be destroyed, and those are eternal emotions, and my own little plot of Immortality, at least for now. Maybe, in order to stay alive, I have to fall in love with something every day.

Love. Can't remember whether or not I posted about this before, but I remember thinking once, in the shower ( where all good thoughts come), that
He was like poetry,
not for some romantic notion, but because I always found more in it than the author intended. Half the romantic, deeply intriguing and highly idealised things I was, and am, finding inside of him don't even exist. Why should I love a fallacy? All those cliches about Loving Love, and loving its ideal, or its feeling or its by-products, free gifts etc etc. Really makes me wonder how much of it is about the person, because maybe in the end, "Nice" is enough to cut it.
And maybe it shouldn't be that simple.

belle epoque at 12:25 PM

Runaway

Went for camp today at the Boy's Brigade...one of the guys accousted me
"Excuse me auntie"

Auntie?!?!??! I was deeply offended. Was I carrying a trapezium-shaped wicker basket-with-large-clasp or wearing floral print? Was I giving off motherly vibes or reeking of a strange perfume? Certainly not. I was quietly minding my own business and reading a funny book and suddenly I've aged countless years into the future. Heck I didn't even plan to live that long to make it into Auntie mode. :(

In order to preserve my youthful pallor, baby-ass skin and razor sharp wits, I had planned to die a quick and painless (optimally) death by the age of 50. Before arthritis stops me playing my cello and senility stops me solving Sudoku. But now, some child has presumed to tell me that I am highly suitable for an advanced stage in age-related human development. He's even granted me unconditional initiation. Without the 40year bond period.
Oh, the tragedy
What am I doing wrong:(

belle epoque at 11:51 AM

Friday, June 09, 2006

Hey Big Spender

I'm dead.
I just keep buying and buying and spending and spending and contributing to the circular flow. But maybe its like the whole Pay-It-Forward crap where my purchase will somehow enable the

store owner to give his daughter more allowance Thus
she decides not to steal money from her classmate Thus
her classmate decides not to murder her in an act of vigilante justice Thus
her father will decide not to withold his tip from the neighbourhood restaurant Thus
the waiter will not steal from the cash register Thus
the restaurant owner will not kick a stray dog on his way home in a warped act of social justice
Thus the dog will not bite the next homeless man he meets
Thus the homeless man will not decide to mug my Father on his way home from work

and so it goes on
and so, in the same way that
A butterfly flaps its wings in China and pisses off the Motorola guy who gets butterfly wing dust on his eye and decides to award the supply chain hub to Singapore,

where there are no butterflies.

(And if there ever were, you probably wouldn't be able to see them for the hordes of Singaporeans crowding around it to buy Toto with the location's 6 digit grid reference number. Or postal code.)

belle epoque at 12:42 AM

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Because you had a bad day

Today's Video: Kiss Me, Sixpence None the Richer

Word of the day:

Bishonen

Haha, thanks B, for everything. It has been quite a phase. What will happen to me.

belle epoque at 12:34 PM

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

As

Today's video: George Michael and Mary J Blige - As.
I always thought the song was called Until. Haha when you listen to it, it becomes obvious why. Love this, when I first heard it, its just extremely easy listening. Pleasant and not emotionally demanding, like some songs are. They need you to either head bang or cry, which this doesn't.

belle epoque at 11:31 AM

20 People

"Name 20 people you can think of off the top of your head. Don't read the questions below before you indicate your 20."
(I solemnly swear all the following names have been randomly generated and will be the only names ever mentioned in my blog. Ohm. Here they are in no order of preference and are probably the people I most recently talked to.)

1. Nicky
2. Shang
3. Ruoxin
4. Lucas
5. Marc
6. Jeremy A
7. Ditong
8. Arif
9. Siying (all good things come in threes haha)
10. Jeremy C
11. Tong Kai
12. Johnny (cello)
13. Tiap
14. Kai Siang
15. Jit Min
16. Naz
17. Mingming
18. Nathaniel
19. Lenard
20. David

1. How did you meet 14?
Met him in J1 through the angel mortal game, he was my mortal's best pal so ended up talking.

2. What would you do if you never met 1?
Oh dear. I wouldn't have my best complaining partner, my really cool roses-on-black Stella perfume, no one to bitch with as well as my best junior who really understands me :).

3. What would you do if 20 and 9 dated?
Oh my...both violins, both doctors. Very very interesting indeed. It would be sweet actually they are both such sweet and straightforward, stable people. They'd have geniuses for children and i would play at the wedding.

4. Did you ever like 19?
As a friend, yes. Very funny and very caring guy. Great talent there :D haha. Great desk partner also, and octet as well.

5. Would 6 and 17 make a good couple?
8(. I have to make that face. It would be so queer. Let me think. Jem A is very caring, amazingly. And Ming is really cool and fun. But I personally think they are really too different. I'm sure her mum would appreciate a PSC scholar though. Haha.

6. Describe 3.
Awwwwwww she's the sweetest, nicest big sister anyone could have. Easy-going and fun to be with, and MOL!! desk partner! love you babe. Remember our sweets? From the first M and M we met, and poisoned people worth poisoning, till the bunny sweets in MOL...sweets will always be a part of our friendship:)

7. Do you think 8 is attractive?
HAHAHA he reads this blog. What can i say. In a don't-carish way I guess? Good with guitar though, rocker dudes, anyone?

8. Tell me something about 7.
She's one of the few amazing first violinists I'm not in love with haha. Great listener and a wonderful friend. We've been through heaps together and she's one of the best things I will take away from my JC education...Quartet!:)

9. Do you know any of 12's family?
Wow...no. I know where they live though.

10. What's 8's favourite?
Favourite what? My instinctive reply to this, however, is Radiohead.

11. What would you do if 11 confesses that he/she likes you?
HAHA impossible. I'd ask him who paid him to say it. But probably, because he's my very favourite senior and has helped me so so much, I'd say *pat pat* I like you very much too :).

12. What language does 15 speak?
HA that's a bloody, bloody interesting question. He speaks Monophilolang. Short but meaningful. Find your own euphemisms, I'm not providing any.

13. Who is 9 going out with?
Wasn't she supposed to be together with Number 20? To my knowledge, no one.

14. How old is 16 now?
My age.

15. When was the last time you talked to 13?
Yesterday! Crap I better return his sms now.

16. Who's 2's favourite band/singer?
That's tough...haven't spoken to her in a while. Some classical pianist? Argerich?:)

17. Would you date 4?
Hmmm...probably not, we know each other too well. He's a great guy though! Just that Love Has Secrets and all that.

18. Would you date 7?
Naa, she's a girl. But if I were a guy I would, i suppose?

19. Is 15 single?
That is an extremely interesting question that has been decreasingly pertinent to my sanity. Any takers?

20. What's 10's last name?
Chiew

21. Would you ever be in a serious relationship with 11?
It depends really. We are certainly in a very serious friendship. With many historical references.

22. What school does 3 go to?
None, she's working

23. Where does 6 live?
I don't remember!

24. Whats your favourite thing about 5?
He drives! HAHAHA no that's not it. He's really friendly and easy to get along with, nice to talk to and generally a very very good boy. And an amazing flutist. haha. Caring and knows how to treat a Lady right. (not in an obscene way)

25. Have you seen 1 naked?
...
God no.

belle epoque at 10:10 AM

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Freeloading

I am so amazed that its possible to freeload off someone else's wireless internet. Makes me feel so techno today. Watched a really interesting debrief... and have some strange debate quotes:
Chair: "We will now observe a minute of silence for the adjudicator to tally the scores"
Speaker: "What is 'Irony' in Chinese?" - that is a very good question though. The closest I could come to it was sarcasm. feng3 ci4, i think?

speech is such an interesting thing, heard a great voice today. And at the bite of every syllable I simply swallowed it up :D whoopee.

Are you willing to win - at any cost?

belle epoque at 10:58 AM

Monday, June 05, 2006

Childhood

Some of you may recognise this...from my HC concert script...Fatal Attraction Inspirations06

Your childhood is a strange thing. You don't remember exactly what you did to pass the time but you know that you laughed while doing it. You remember every detail kissed leaf as you lay on the ground and laughed at the ferocity of the sun; and you said, as you turned to face the world, I will conquer you tomorrow because today, today I have conquered myself.

You remember every little pain, and it was beautiful because you knew that something would always happen after that to take the hurt away. You remember staying awake every night trying to understand how you fell asleep. But it never worked, and you woke up just in time to wave goodbye to the dying stars and kiss your father before he left for work.

You would spend every day in exhilarated wonder, and you assumed that there would be better things to come because everyone wanted to grow up faster. And at that moment your life was an epic. A tentative epic, but an epic nonetheless.

I wish things could be so simple again, when I could be close to someone, in the purest form of the word, without intangible ramifications crowding me out and suffocating my comfort

belle epoque at 12:27 PM

Come Fly with Me

I can just imagine the Singapore version of this..*lisps*

Come Fry with Me Let's Fry, Let's Fry away!
We'll just Ooze, all that sweat to Lose
It's as bad as Far Bombay...

Anyway I'm back:) After slavishly running through heaps of blogskins I settled on this one because its pleasant looking and quite spaced out. Rather like myself. Haha..Went out on a photo taking spree!! With my new Sony. Was fun to hang around all my favourite places again. Signing my contract tomorrow...the date o6o6o6 just creeps the Hell out of me. In honour of today, the video will be Tony Bennett and Dean Martin...his voice is just so comforting and lovely. Like wrapping velvet around you and going to bed. On the threshold of my future.

belle epoque at 11:54 AM

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Something Stupid

Today's Video: Something Stupid with Nicole and Robbie

I can see it in your eyes
You still despise the same old lines
You heard the night before
And though it's just a line to you
For me it's true
And never seemed so right before
I practice every day to find some clever lines to say
To make the meaning come true
But then I think
I'll wait until the evening gets late
And I'm alone with you

I'm stupid :(

belle epoque at 10:44 PM

less than 1 inch thick!!

belle epoque at 11:28 AM

Its so small and gorgeous...